The Mayor of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Dr. Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije has challenges the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and his contenders in the Ablekuma South seat contest to drag him before the Economic and Organized Crime Office for probe to ascertain the truth behind their allegation that he (Okoe) embezzled the US$100 million Rockefeller Foundation fund.
Questions are being asked on NPP campaign platforms about the whereabouts of the said fund released by Rockefeller Foundation to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to develop as part of its package for being among the among thirty-five (35) Most Resilient Cities in the world.
The NPP parliamentry candidate for Ablekuma South, Lawyer Jerry Ahmed Shaib who is contesting the seat with Dr. Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije claimed on his campaign platforms that the Mayor has misused the said fund, calling on the people to question the Mayor on that.
However, the Mayor who seemed to be so passionate about the whole set of lies being propagated by the NPP candidate just to score cheap political points told his supporters in the constituency that he is ever ready to face any agency be it EOCO, CHRAJ or any established Committee to answer questions about the said fund.
Charged by the chants from the crowd roaring ‘JM Toaso, Okoe Toaso,’ the Mayor poured out his disappointment in the NPP for failing to give credit to who it is due.
He said, the good works of the A.M.A under his leadership as the Mayor is visible for all to see including NPP members themselves, and that it saddens him to hear people closing their eyes at the many developmental projects he has and continue to undertake within the Capital City especially in the areas of education, health and infrastructure.
According to the Mayor, making the City of Accra a Millennium City and winning the hearts of the international community to become the best Mayor in Africa and President of World Mayors is not by chance but by dint of hard work, dedication and the trust people repose in him.
He pointed out to his detractors that, he will not by any means embezzle funds and that what he had achieved in his eight years as a Mayor, President of World Mayors and from other jobs he had done before becoming the Mayor is enough to keep him going.
“I don’t have to steal Rockefeller funds to survive. I have been a Mayor for two terms and have achieved so much for my people and for myself.’
He indicated that under his term, the shift system which has become the order of the day under the NPP regime has ended, 122 Millennium City Schools have been constructed in Accra, the $35 million Mudor Faecal Treatment Plant which is designed to eliminate nuisance once and for all, has been completed and will soon be commissioned.
The Lavender Hill at Korle-Gonno project will be completed by the close of November and transform it into the pearl of the city of Accra.
He also revealed that the construction of a Modern Sports Complex at Korle-Gonno will soon be completed, adding that the dredging of the Korle-Lagoon which has been one of his major challenge will be tackled once and for all.
He described the NPP government as a government of HIPCism stressing that, “… NPP’s legacy is HIPC. What they have been able to achieve is HIPC development comprising HIPC gutters, HIPC drains, HIPC everywhere.”
Dr. Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije averred that, Nana Akufo-Addo’s promise of building an industry in each district across the country will be a mirage since, for eight years that they have been in power and Akfo-Addo as MP and Minister in two different portfolios, they have not been able to establish a single industry in any of the districts in Ghana.
“So why are they disturbing the people. They are telling you to try him, try him for what? The NPP has failed in its eight years and does not deserve any chance,” he said.
“I believe you all can see what is going on under the NDC. You don’t need to be told. NDC is about development, and we will continue in that drive to achieve more for our people. Those people can go tell all the lies they have in the world, but the truth is that, the NDC will win and win big time,” he said.
By: Prosper Agbenyega
